Well that didn't take long. The first few times that I used the double bridle, Izzy took it willingly, and then worked better than ever. The next few times I tried it, he started to show some resistance to bridling again.

Over the weekend, I spent time just bridling without the added pressure of a ride. Yesterday, he had a full on melt down over the bridle and gave me an impossible to ignore NO.

I did get it on, but he flew backwards each time I tried to bring it over his ears to secure it. And no, it's not an ear issue; he just knows over the ears means it's on.

Once I finally did get it on, he stood there practically trembling, but not quite. His entire body was rigid, and a near panic filled his eyes. No way was I going to ride him looking like that. I gently removed the double, gave him a reassuring pat, and let him stand and recover.

I heard you loud and clear.

A few minutes later, I pulled out my original bridle with the correction bit attached. He gave it the hairy eye ball, but stood quietly as I slowly drew the crown piece over his ears. The dude knew the difference.

When I bought Izzy, his first owner told me that he was very expressive about his dislikes. Her experience came with a poor fitting saddle. According to her, Izzy had a complete fit about using a saddle that he didn't like. She couldn't get it off fast enough.

This is twice now that he's shown an obvious dislike for a bit. For the first, a thick and gentle double jointed snaffle, it took him months to convince me that he didn't like it. This time, he decided to be more persuasive; it only took him a handlful of bridling days to convince me that the double is not for him.

Before anyway suggests dental work, believe me, I've thought of it too. My horses get their teeth done by my veterinarian once or twice a year. Izzy's teeth were done this past March. While it is possible that something has changed in his mouth since then, I have felt around in there and even taken a quick peek. Nothing seems to be amiss, but I will let my vet know we've had some bitting issues.

Still the leading contender.

The main reason I don't suspect a dental problem is because he seems to like the Myler Correction bit. He packed it around for three solid weeks without complaint or resistance. And in fact, even after having a melt down over the double, he stood quietly and let me put that bit on.

I am ordering a dressage legal Myler bit today. If I am going to have a tack issue, which I'd rather not, but if so, I'd much rather it be bits than saddles. And no, Universe, I am NOT tempting you. Who all has been down this particular path?

I didn't get a lot done over the weekend, but it was nice to get back in the saddle. Of course, this week is going to be a little hit or miss as I have after work appointments two out of the five afternoons.

Over the weekend, I finally got to get back on Izzy and do some more work in the double bridle, but this time, I had to do it alone without a trainer in my ear. I don't know why the double intimidated me so much. On Izzy, it fees like the most natural thing. It is so much easier to have a conversation with him. It's almost like I ditched an old, staticky cell phone for one that has a better "connection."

From this summer.

He's still the same horse, that hasn't changed. But now, instead of arguing for 15 minutes about why spooking isn't the way to go, the discussion lasts for 15 seconds, and we move on.

​We're still struggling with maintaining a steady tempo, but with the double, the variations in his speed are much smaller. We don't fluctuate between mach 10 and sucking back. Now, we go forward, and I remind him to slow down with a half halt, and he can hear me.

You've seen this one already, but I like to be reminded of his potential.

My homework was to work on keeping the tempo steady, but Chemaine also gave me a tip regarding the canter. Instead of thinking, Okay we're getting ready to canter, GET READY, OKAY NOW SHOVE THAT HIP FORWARD, she had me just lift my inside seatbone without all of the other fanfare. All of that preparing and dramatizing only ensured that the transition to the new gait would be a wild launch forward.

So, I worked on getting him deep and soft in the trot and then just (tried) slid my inside seatbone forward. That horse is super sensitive. He flicked an ear back at me and then bounced around a bit, but after organizing his legs, he rolleded into a less wild canter. We tried a few more times until he got it just right. When we switched directions, he picked up the canter effortlessly.

I can't say it enough: this double bridle is proving to be the most valuable tool in my tackroom. I feel like we can now really start moving forward. And on that note, I think we can finally say that we're no longer an Introductory Level team. While we haven't shown there yet, I still feel good about calling us a Training Level team.

I have so many good things to say about the last three weeks and our move to the double bridle that I don't even know where to begin.

First of all, if you are riding a difficult horse, get a trainer. I consider myself to be a pretty decent rider. I problem solve, and I work out a lot of the issues on my own, but sometimes, a professional can come up with a solution that you just might not think of on your own.

Chemaine's suggestion that I bring Speedy up to the arena as a companion for Izzy solved so much of Izzy's tension that he is a completley different horse. Her further suggestion that I try a different bit has given me the horse that I knew was in there. Having a bit with control has helped me regain my status as the top dog. I already had Izzy's attention on the ground, but I simply couldn't get it in the saddle. With the correction bit, and now the double, he is putty in my hands.

Saturday - Photo by Chemaine Hurtado

When I got on Izzy on Sunday, our little clinic was really starting to roll. Speedy was tied at the far end of the arena like usual, but the rider before me was loading up her horse to leave - right next to the arena, two other riders were just pulling in and parking, and a small group of people were milling around near the gate. My normally silent arena was bustling with energy.

I walked Izzy around, and he gave one or two pretty hard spooks, but I simply sat there and held my hands steady. Chemaine asked how quickly I felt I was able to get him back in line compared to using the correction bit. It was a great question, and one I am glad she thought to ask. What I realized was that with the double bridle, it took no upper body strength to get him back in order, and it didn't affect my balance at all.

In fact, he got super quiet and submissive almost immediately. It was as though he had checked to see if someone was in charge because he sure as hell didn't really want to be but was willing to do it if that was his only choice. Once he realized that I had things under control, he let out a deep sigh and let his ears flop happily.

For the rest of the ride, he was 100% committed to me - focused, relaxed, and very happy to be working. The only "naughty" thing he did was to play around with the weymouth, trying to grab the bit's shanks. The longer we worked though, the less he thought about it until it became a non-issue. But really, I'll take a playful horse over a tense one any day!

More Saturday - Photo by Chemaine Hurtado

Chemaine started us off by having me focus on keeping Izzy soft without speeding up. Every stride I asked him to go deeper without speeding up. Unfortunately, the double didn't turn him into a Third Level horse. We still have plenty of work to do, but now he can hear me and concentrate.

With Speedy, the half halt means get soft because now we're going to GO. With Izzy, the half halt means slow down and get your balance. Over and over and over I asked him to slow down and rebalance, slow down and rebalance. Unlike Speedy, Izzy is a very forward thinking horse.

Even his tail was swinging!

​Before long, he was trotting along with a lovely tempo and the swingingiest back he has ever had. He was so different to ride that I had to ask Chemaine about how ligh in the bridle he was. He has been so heavy for so long that I wasn't sure if the lightness that I was feeling was a hesitancy to take the bit, or a horse that was truly light.

She had me think about it like this: Instead of thinking about it as contact, think about a connection. As soon as she said that, slot machine bells went off in my head. YES! A connection brings to mind an intimate conversation while contact sounds heavier.

With the double bridle, I felt that I was able to be far more relaxed through my arms, back, and core. With the snaffle, Izzy plowed through the bit so hard that I had to brace against him bracing against me. With the double, Izzy let go of the bit allowing me to have a quieter, softer conversation with him. So yeah, it does feel more like a connection than contact.

After some trot work, we moved onto the canter where the instructions were the same: half halt to slow down and rebalance. For right now, that's our job - learn how to maintain a steady tempo without rushing.

The thing that I kept remarking on during the entire lesson was Izzy's ears. They flopped around, or he kept them flicking back and forth at me without stop. It was as though he finally heard me up there. It was such a joy to see him so happy and relaxed in his work.

Since buying him two years ago, I've fluctuated between happiness and excitement with how he's doing to flat out disappointment and thoughts of selling him. But this breakthrough, this is a biggie. I finally feel like I am riding a dressage horse.

Our next clinic with Chemaine is in early January. I have a lot of homework, but I am feeling super confident that we are on an excellent path right now. Let me know if you'd like to ride with Chemaine, or if you'd like to just drop by and audit. She's worth the drive!

When Chemaine suggested that the double bridle might be the bitting solution that would work best for us right now, I'll admit that I felt more than a bit intimidated. I already have trouble with my rein length. You want to add even more reins with which to fumble? I also worried about how noisy my hands are and about hitting Izzy with the curb if he spooked or if I shortened my reins clumsily.

Snaffle bridle to double bridle

The majority of dressage riders never make it into the double, used at Third Level, so I thought I'd sure my initial experience with getting it put together and using it for the first time.

I knew Chemaine was coming for lessons over the weekend, so I waited for her help in putting it together. By the time we were through, we joked that assembling a double bridle would make an excellent barn party game, especially if done in teams!

With her daughter, Morgan, holding it aloft, she and I set to work adding what we needed to my existing bridle. She first ran the bradoon hanger up and over the crown piece but through the brown band to hold it in place.

Just add a bradoon hanger.

We then attached the weymouth (curb) to the original bit hanging straps. Since two bits would now be in his mouth, Chemaine dropped the weymouth one hole from where the correction bit had been. She then attached the bradoon bit to its hanger. As we attached the different bits, Chemaine showed me how the bradoon hangs just above the weymouth so that they almost nest together, one atop the other. The bradoon's strap is also hung "outside" the weymouth's strap.

Chemaine attached my rubber reins to the bradoon as that is the bit that I am actually communicating with. We used a pair of laced reins for the weymouth. I am sure that more experienced riders can have matching reins, but it is really important for me to have two completely different reins so that I can easily see and feel which rein I am adjusting.

Braided for the curb, rubber for the snaffle.

I mentioned this already, but in case you missed it, Izzy had reached the point where he absolutely refused to open his mouth for the snaffle. It had turned into a bit of a battle to get it in. After only a day or two with the correction bit, he was was once again slurping up the bit easily. Because of that, I wasn't too worried about him taking the double bits.

Chemaine had shown me a few weeks ago how she puts the double in, so when we were ready to bridle Izzy, she simply stepped back and let me do it. I appreciated her confidence in me. As she had shown me, I simply cradled both bits in my hand just like you would with a single bit. Izzy reached down and took them both in his mouth without a single complaint or even look of surprise. He didn't fuss with them or even act like anything was different.

Chemaine and I talked about why the snaffle had gotten to be so uncomfortable for him. She agreed that tongue pressure might have been the issue, but to her, it was more likely that it had to do with his ability to swallow. With a double jointed bit, the bit lays across the tongue. For some horses this makes it difficult for them to lift the bit away from the tongue to swallow. The correction bit has a lot of tongue relief, so with its higher port, Izzy had room to move his tongue around.

The correction bit.

I wanted to make sure that Izzy's first ride with the double was a good one so I insisted that Chemaine ride him first. She started out at a walk with the curb rein draped and hanging. As Izzy stretched and loosened up, Chemaine slowly took the curb rein in her hand, but kept it pretty loopy. At this point, the curb rein is for its stopping power and not for collection.

Droopy curb rein

Within a short time, Chemaine was able to take up the curb rein so that it was closer in length to the snaffle rein. She showed me how to keep the curb rein just a bit longer so that it only comes into play when he tries to charge or take control.

I am really glad that I have been riding him in the correction bit because it provided a good transition. I also kept my rein a little loopy with that bit as well because it was more about having stopping power than it was about being on the bit. When he would challenge me, I simply held my hand steady and let him hit the curb chain on his own. A few times testing it out always brought him back down to reason. The weymouth works in the same way (for right now).

As Chemaine rode, she simply showed Izzy how to be more quiet in the bridle. For every stride she encouraged him to reach and stretch down while maintaining a steady tempo. While she didn't actually use the word "shocked," I think she was. He was not the same horse she had ridden three weeks before. He wasn't anxious or worried and the tension he used to carry slowly melted away. The work that I put in over the past few weeks really showed. I wish that I had thought to change out that bit months ago.

After a little canter work, I got on him and grinned in delight; he was butter in my hands and under my seat. The double bridle is my new best friend. Later that evening, Chemaine joked about my "Third Level horse who's just working on his changes." Pretty funny, right?!

About the Writer & Rider

I am a lifetime rider. I began endurance riding in 1996 where I ultimately completed five, one-day 100 mile races, the 200-mile Death Valley Encounter, and numerous other 50, 65, and 75 mile races. I began showing dressage in 2010.​Welcome to my dressage journey.

About Speedy G

Speedy went from endurance horse to dressage horse and occasional trail horse. He is a 2004, 15'1 hand, purebred Arabian gelding. His Arabian Horse Registry name is G Ima Starr FA.

July 2017 - Photo by Sue Dockweiler

About Izzy

Izzy was started as a four-year old and then spent the next 18 months in pasture growing up. I bought him as a six-year old, and together, we are schooling the dressage basics. He is a 2008, 16'3 hand Zweibrücker gelding. His Rheinland Pfalz-saar International (RPSI) name is Imperioso.